O Morality, Morality! Wherefore art thou Morality?

Back in the 90's "prayer in schools" was a topic that sparked fierce debate. It was, and in many circles still is, seen as religious intolerance. By the institutions of academia supporting a Christian God, all the Other students will be outsiders. I don't intend to argue this point but merely to show that, what for centuries, in many different cultures has served as a moral anchor is now not being embraced institutionally. Religion teaches morality, and true, people can still teach their children about Jesus or Mohammad at home but shouldn't morality be reinforced in education?

Biology. Evolution. Charles Darwin. Sure, having a knowledge about scientific facts and theorems is of value in a formal education but what moral lesson can be gleaned from this? Darwin, in "On the Origin of Species" uses phrases like, "beaten in the race for life”,"Struggle for Existence," and "war of nature." There is no morality in Darwin. There is only the lesson that the weak perish and the strong thrive. Modern society is far too intricate to be broken down in such terms. Prisons exist to stop the Alpha Males from dominating by force. Those with the natural gifts don't necessarily succeed as Darwin says happens in Nature. In "Descent of Man" Darwin attributes success of men and societies by their possession of some poorly defined morality. Darwin said that members of a tribe would "approve of conduct which appeared to them to be for the general good, and would reprobate that which appeared evil." How can this be reconciled with evolution? Is "general good" to be taken to mean good for the tribe? If so, then it would often appear evil to other tribes. Darwin is trying to set up a moral code here but it completely falls apart because morals can't exist in terms of instinct or survival. Morals arise out of choice.

So, if Evolution and prayer cannot be turned to for morality in schools, then where? How about the "L" word? LITERATURE. Poe, Blake, Twain...Shakespeare even. It seems as if the last politically acceptable source of morality in schools is classic literature.

Source: Darwin, Charles. Handout with selections from On the Origin of Species: by Means of Natural Selection (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

Question: Is religion in public education unsaveable? Is Evolution morally bankrupt? Where else can we turn but Literature?